Over two years later, this whole Alec Baldwin situation just might finally be coming to an end.
Back in October of 2021, the famed actor accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with a loaded prop gun while filming for the western movie Rust.
And now, according to the AP News, Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico on an involuntary manslaughter charge.
Baldwin has maintained that he didn’t pull the trigger on the gun that killed Hutchens and wounded director Joel Souza, and special prosecutors dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin last April to determine whether the gun might have been modified before the shooting happened.
However, that all changed this week when they were given a new analysis of the gun. The analysis was from experts in ballistics and forensic testing relied on replacement parts to reassemble the gun fired by Baldwin after parts of the pistol were broken by the FBI during testing.
The report said the gun markings it left on a spent cartridge concluded that Baldwin had to have pulled or depressed the trigger, although he’s denied doing so.
Baldwin’s legal team has not immediately responded to any requests for comment on the matter, and special prosecutors declined to answer any questions as well.
Although the case has been very lowkey to this point, two witnesses who were also crew members for Rust were seen at the courthouse. One of the crew members was present when the fatal shot occurred, and the other had walked off the set that day before the tragic moment Hutchins was killed.
Judges recently agreed to put a number of civil lawsuits on hold, and the armorer on the film, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter for her handling of the weapon and her alleged role in allowing live ammunition to make it onto the set and into the gun.
Last year, David Halls also plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon for his role in the tragedy. Halls, the assistant director of the film and safety coordinator on the set, reportedly handed the weapon to Baldwin before the shooting without consulting on-set weapons specialists. He was sentenced to six months probation on the charges.
